Overview :: Informing Learners about Information Systems

Informing South African Students about Information Systems

At the University of Cape Town, females and students disadvantaged under the previous South African apartheid education system are under-represented in Information Systems (I.S.) classes. This research shows that these are also the groups most ignorant about I.S. at the school-leaving stage. After being informed about the discipline through a small intervention, a significant increase in enthusiasm for majoring in and being employed in I.S. occurred. This should result in a better educational fit and greater enrolment of these groups in I.S., and reduce some switching to I.S. from other subjects at a later stage. The key influencing sources for university students study decisions are also examined, and it is evident that a different approach is needed for each group in order to maximize the number of quality I.S. graduates.

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Many governments are trying to debunk the many IT career myths through informing learners.  The press release below shows how the Alberta government is encouraging girls to "Go for IT".

Go for IT: Conference tells grade-nine girls

    By: Patricia Pickett (24 Feb 2005)

Lasha Dekker says it was mostly chance that led her to a career in IT but thats not stopping her from encouraging young women to consider working in the same field. Dekker, vice-president of developer and platform evangelism for Microsoft Canada Co., was a keynote speaker at Wednesdays Explore IT Conference in Calgary, a one-day event that introduced grade-nine girls to career opportunities in IT.

Dekker noted that today only 20 per cent of graduates from college or university computer programs are women. There is a tremendous opportunity for women in this area. For girls...interested in IT, I want to underscore that they should go for it, and for the ones that are not sure, they should at least consider it and explore the opportunities available in IT.

To prepare for the conference, she said she spent two hours with a focus group of grade-nine girls in Toronto, brainstorming about young womens issues and concerns about going into IT. From this meeting, she came up with her Top Ten Myths and Facts presentation about IT careers. Some issues (the girls) brought up included fears that their friends will think (working in IT) is a geeky thing to do, and that IT work is not very social," she said. "They were concerned that there were limitations for women in this area of technology, and they felt there is a stigma associated with IT in terms of it not being a very exciting place to work. They also had the impression that IT workers are chained to a computer and their office for all of their days.

Dekker said she addressed these myths by talking to conference attendees about what a career in IT is really like, drawing from her own experiences. You often have the opportunity to work around the world...and you are not chained to a computer. There are different customers to work with, and you can explore different areas of IT, including research and development, programming, sales and marketing.